Brick-kiln construction



May 10, 1927. 1,627,598

W. W. DICKINSON,A -JR BRICK KILN coNs'TRUc'fpxoN Filed May ze, 192e 2 sheets-sheet 1 May 10, 1927.

W. W. DICKINSON, JR

BRICK KILN CONSTRUCTION Filed May 28. 1926 2 Sheets-sheet 2 Patented May 10, 1927.

Lenses BRICK-iKILN CONSTRUCTION.

:Application Jfiled ,'.May l28, #1926. sserialifNo. .1112,227.

vThis invention relates fto `brick-kiln .construction in general; but has-more specific reference to iinprovementsin the forms, ,ar- `rangements, and methods of constraiction, ,hitherto Y employed for such ykilns, typical :examples of late .types of -Wliichare `illustrated and described intwo United States Letters Patent, yissued .to me, and respectively -'idenitified fas No. 1,305,4M, ,dated `June ,3, 19119, EandNo.1,355,821,,datedgOctober 19, 19.20.

The practicefhenetoforefollowed in brickfkilnconstruction, fleas requiredfsuch arrange- -1nents,fa1'1d.so great quantities-:of permanent structures, at, below, or above, .the baseof the kilns, ,as lto involve excessive `expenditures for kiln construction; to linterfere -With 1tl'ie-'f1eXibil-ityof the plant, lparticulaizly as lregardschanges vin the .sizes-,foraifnangements ,of 1the individual kiln units; ,and-to 'lessen the handling vcapacity and yefficiency of 1mechanical brick-handling `equipment,...such A as `mechanicalSetters Also, thefoutput per unitof kiln capacityheretofore has been .too small., and ,the percentage A,of loss, ,due .to ffspalls and overburned and underburned zbricks, has-beentoo great ;v reliandling andfrestoragev of thefbricks-between the kilnsvand :the transporting -or shipping 1neans, has ,been lnecessary, Vowingrto the lack of pro vision for leavingthebricks inthe kilns in which they were burned, until such ftime Aas they were to Ybe Itransported lto points of Adelivery jand lsuch Vreliandling `and restorage have affected,correspondingly the amount lof ground space Irequired ,for va brick plant.

yNumerous improvementsin kiln construction .have been attempted from time to tme, particularly in thewayof. efforts tolincrease the eticiency .of thekilnsas regards ,minimizing heat ,losses and promoting effective fuel utilzationv; but manyofthese sofcall'ed improvements lhave .been incapable of Sef- .,fe.cti ng any real sayingi'fzinteresftn .plant v.investment, .,operating; costS, wte, :and 1 rate :and .grade of output, yibetaken. into -account.

.In utilizing the ihot waste gases ,frQIgLQney kilnnnit, for doing ,useful iWork -in an. l adjacent unit `,jor -1 units. .xthe-. practice vhitherto :has been either `,to ladnii-tgsu'ch gases yat the :top of thexsec'on'dary jvkiln ,and discharge .them at itsbottom, `or -to :ad-mit them at the hottoinand discharge'them atlthetop With either iarnangement, suiiicient draft must :be

.provi ded :to overcome ythe .natural tendencll7 of fthe ;hot.gases yto frise, and .to .draw them downward; permanent `structures are .re- .fqun'ed ffor each kiln unitvand between .the

units; and in Various Ways the iresults se- ,cured `:in practice ,are far `:from satisfactory.

"The principal objects oflthe present :inven- ,ftion pare (to ,provide la :form Yof brick-kiln construction, .and .-a Ymethod of producing wit, :in yWhich-- yl\lo-transverse passages, in, through,

over, or ;under,'fthe individual kiln units, :are urequi-red, .other than :the VarchW-ays 1n which combustion takes place;

(b) One temporary division Wall -sepamates each two adjacentkiln units, and ex- ;-tends :ffromthefioor to a heightbelow :that

of the under side of the topcoyering, thereby affording ,-avpassage for the hot ,gases :fnom gkiln :that `is being fired -to the upper portion-Otan adjacentkiln,=lieating the upperbrickslintheglatten and causing an updraft therein;

-Slnceftherefare v,no lip'ermanent division Walls, each kiln yunit may be 4made of any desired ylength, and vis Aintended to 'be complete- ,ly demolished, @preferably by mechanical -means, when the bricks are being removed A(d) -No artificial ffloor, and .no underground piping ftunnels, or other undergroundapparatus forconstruetion, are fnecesfS/Uly 5 fte) lUnderburning or overburning of the bricks lin the corners ad]acent the division walls, is avoided;

(,7)"The ;capaci ty and `Vefciency of niechanieal `brick-handling apparatus, when used in either :constructing/or deinolishing kilns .that are v-arianged @and constructed in aecordancewith my invention, are increased, and the opeiatlng ,cost thereof is ,desreasedc; and

The ,upfdraft .created in each kiln unit-'.,byHiep-assaggi, through the upper part minimizes formation yof cold centers fin .thekiln units.

The'ymeans gby which .the .foregoing and Jother objects are accomplished L by my gin,-

vention, and the method employed for their accomplishment, readily will be understood from the following description on reference to the accompanying drawings, in which- Fig., 1 is a plan view, showing a preferred arrangement for two adjacent, similar rows of kiln units, the locations of the units of the upper row being indicated by dotted lines, and the first unit in the lower row starting at the left, being shown empty; the second unit as having had the burned bricks removed therefrom, down to the side walls of the combustion arches; the third unit as having had the top removed, to expose the burned bricks underneath; and the fourth, fifth and sixth units as being in the condition that would exist if said units were completed, and the fourth unit were in process of burning.

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of Athe same, showing the shed that is usually provided over the kilns, and indicating the presence of a mechanical brick-handling device.

Fig. 3 is a sectional side elevation, on a larger scale, of the third and fourth kiln units, and a portion of each of the second and fifth units, shown in Figs. 1 and 2, the section being taken substantially on line III- III of Fig. 1.

Fig. t is a sectional elevation, also on an enlarged scale, taken substantially on line 1V*IV of Fig. l.

.Referring now to the drawings in detail, it will be seen that in Fig. 1 six kiln units, respectively indicated by reference numerals 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10, are shown as constituting each row,-the reason for this being that, while burning of the kilns customarily is continued for seven days a week, only six days are devoted to brick handling, kiln construction and demolition, and other like work. and each row of kilns may therefore well. be designed on a six-day basis. Mani.- festly, only a single row of kilns may be provided for vif desired, and for that reason the duplicate row is shown in dotted lines in the drawings, and no speci-lic reference will be made thereto hereinafter. Over the area intended to be occupied by the kilns, a shed 11 preferably is erected, and, upon runways supported by the posts l2 which carry the root of the shed, is niovably mounted a traveling bridgey 18. having thereon a. traveling mechanical setter 14. of any preferred type, adapted to serve all parts of the kiln units of each row. and preferably being capable of use both for placing the bricks in the kilns, and for removing them therefrom.

At the end of the row at which construction of the kilns is intended to be started (Figs. 1 and 2 indicate this as being the left-hand end), a wall 15, which preferably is permanent, is constructed of burner.

" bricks, said wall being of the over-all height and width that is predetermined for the kilns, and preferably being chinked and daubed with moist clay, or otherwise treated, to prevent inflow of air or outflow of the gases, and to minimize the transmission of heat therethrough. The green bricks are put in place in the first kiln unit by means of the mechanical setter, leaving the usual archways 16, and said unit may be made of any desired length, and of any width permitted by the width of the shed 11. After having set all of the bricks intended to be placed in the first kiln unit, the side or scove-casing walls 17 and 18, of substantially the same lengt-li and height as the kiln unit, and formed of burned bricks, are laid by hand, and are suitably chinked and daubed, or ot-l'ierwise treated, in a manner similar to that employed with the bricks forming the permanent end wall 15; and a temporary division wall 19, of unburned bricks, is hand-laid similarly, but without being' chinked, daubed, or otherwise treated, said wall being extended between, but can be bonded into, side walls 17 and 18, but the height of wall 19 being 'less than that of the green bricks in the kiln, by a distance preferably equal to the overall thickness of the bricks handled each time by the mechanical setter, which thickness ordinarily is about 3G inches.4 rlhus, an outletopening 2O is provided, through which some of the hot gases may pass from the kiln unit, either into an adjacent unit., or, in the case of the last kiln in a row, into the atmosphere. Also, since, as just stated, the division wall 19 is made of unburned bricks, and the cracks between the bricks are not filled, some of the hot gases pass through these cracks into thc adjacent kiln unit, and such short circuiting,7 of the hot gases becomes more pronounced as the bricks in the division wall become heated, and are thus caused to shrink. The kiln unit is completed by covering its top with a platting of burned bricks 21, preferably about three courses deep, and said top covering can be chinked and daubed, or otherwise treated, in a manner similar to that employed with walls 15, 17 and 18. This is not absolutely necessary but saves fuel.

Each kiln unit is constructed in the inanner just described for the first unit. with the exception that only the first unit in a row comprises any permanent structure, such as the end wall 15, and, as has been stated, said wall need not necessarily be permanent. After the burning of a kiln unit has been completed, which usually requires about lire days, enough of its top preferably is removed to permit the outlet 2O leading therefrom to be bricked up, but this is not absolutely necessary and when such unit has cooled sufficiently, its top may be entirely removed, either with the mechanical Ligeamies 8 setter for l-by hand, VKand' lthe bur-ned jbricks ma'yc'be left stored 1in lthekliln lunit untilthey are required, :whenf they -may-v be -re- .moved with. the mechanical-setter, orby hand, directly from suc-h storage Ato trucks or other transporting means. As the burned bricks yare taken out of the kiln luni-t', its side walls and rear division wall are demolished at. the same time, and the bricks comprising said walls are either laid aside for subsequent use in'kiln construction, or may be cleaned, and put in with the fresh-burned bricks. Preferably, construction of the kiln units is so planned, relative to the times at which it is intended to re the respective ones, that ordinarily there are at least six completed units ahead of the one being fired, so that some of the gases from the unit in which combustion is taking place, pass from said unit into the upper part of a second unit, and thence into the upper part of a third, and so on, before all of the hot gases are wasted into the air. Since the tops of the kiln units are not absolutely gas-tight,

- especially after being heated, a certain percentage of the hot gases, in fact the greater portion of them, passes into the air through the. kiln tops, but enough goes over from each kiln unit, through the opening 20, into the adjacent unit, to cause the bricks in the upper part of the latter to become heated, thereby creating an up-draft. This eliminates any likelihood of a cold center, and effects a saving in fuel, Any number of kiln units can be tired at any one time and the units can each be in different stages of burning, in fact this method is preferable.

Manifestly, the improvements referred to herein are independent of the sort of fuel that may be used in firing the kilns, and of any apparatus that may be employed in connection with the combustion process, and it has not been thought necessary or desirable to illustrate or describe in the present application any firing means or method. It should be noted, however, that, so far as my improved type and process of kiln con-- struction are concerned, no artificial floor, or other surface or sub-surface structure or apparatus, is required, and the kilns may be constructed directly upon any level area of hard ground that is suitably drained.

Various modifications of minor details of the improvements referred to herein, doubtless readily will suggest themselves to those skilled in this art, and I therefore do not desire to have'the scope of my invention limited to any details that are not specifically claimed.

Having now fully disclosed the invention, what I claim is:

l. A plurality of adjacent units made up of brick placed for burning, having a divi- Sion wall initially of unburned brick, between each ltwo thereof, said wall being of less he'ight i'than lth'e said units, thereby pro- .vitling--finitially passage-way Labo-ve said wall 'lffor gases Vof xAcomlnistion between* said zunits,4 and .viasburni-ng 'and shrinkage of said wall p'rogresses, provi-ding additional direct @passageway-s through-said wall.

Af plurality y-of adjacent units made iup of brick placed for burning, side walls therefor, and a roof therefor, said units having a division of less height than said units, thereby providing initially a passageway above said wall for gases of combustion between said units, and as burning and shrinkage of said wall progresses, additional direct passageways through said walls.

3. A plurality of adjacent units of brick placed for burning, firing channels through said units, side walls, and a roof, said units having a division wall initially of unburned brick, between each two thereof, said wall being of less height than said units, thereby providing initially a passageway above said wall for gases of combustion between said units, and as burning and shrinkage of said wall progresses, additional direct passageways through said walls.

4L. The method of brick-kiln construction, comprising laying up a unit section of unburned bricks in open fashion for burning, providing through the lower portion thereof, during such laying, suitable channels for firing, building along each side of said section a closely laid and daubed wall of burned brick, of the full height of said unit, closing at least one end of said section with a closely laid wall of unburned brick of less height than the height of the said unit, and covering the entire unit with closely laid and chinked layers of burned brick, whereby afterburning said unit may be removed in its entirety.

5. The method of burning brick, comprising providing an end wall, laying up thereagainst a unit section of unburned brick,.in open fashion for burning, providing through the lower portion thereof lduring such laying suitable firing channels, building along each side of said `section a closely laid and daubed wall of burned brick of the full height of said units, closing the end of said unit section with a division wall of closely I laid unburned brick, of less heightthan said unit, covering said unit with closely laid and chinked layers of burned brick, burning the brick in said unit, and thereafter removing the entire structure.

6. The method of burning brick, comprising providing an end wall laying up thereagainst a unit section of unburned brick, in open fashion for burnin', providing through the lower portion thereofduring such laying suitable firing channels, building along each side of said section a closely laid and daubed wall of burned brick of the V'full height of said units, closing the end of such uiiit section with a division Wall of closel)7 laid unburned brick, of less height than said unit, covering said unit With closely laid and chinked layers of burned brick, building i* progressively additional similar units, each using the division Wall of the preceding unit as an initial Wall, burning the bricks iii each of said units in similar progression,

and thereafter removing in its entirety, each of said units, in similar progression. 10

In testimony Uof the foregoing, I aiiix by signature hereunto.

WILLIAM WALLACE DicKiNsoN, JR. 

